“Is there a comics publisher that you really like as a retailer? One that goes above and beyond to address retailer concerns, or goes out of its way to accommodate special requests, or one that just “gets” the retailing side of things? You always hear about the companies that go the extra distance for creators… is there one like that for retailers?”

At the previous job, one publisher that impressed me quite a bit was Zenescope, home of the Grimm Fairy Tales line of funnybooks. Plenty of emails and phone calls and outreach and backlist sales and doing whatever they can to help retailers stock the shelves with their books, which I appreciated. Now, at the new store, the Zenescope titles haven’t quite gained too much traction yet…they have some customers here, but I’m not yet at the point where I need that level of attention. Maybe soon!

Fantagraphics is another that comes to mind, particularly just recently when they came to my rescue on something that…well, let’s just say they saved my bacon. I’ll go into detail about what happened in a week or two (and explain just why I don’t want to do so right this moment) but I just wanted to make sure I mentioned Fantagraphics in this context of “swell comic book companies that help retailers.”

Boom! is another company that was willing to work with me when I was attempting to get my paws on, I believe, their Amory Wars hardcover, I think, that I couldn’t get through the usual channels. And…well, there are plenty more, sending emails and contacting us over Twitter and basically just making themselves available. Most smaller companies want to go out of their way to be helpful to retailers, to help them carry their product. It’s a small industry with not a lot of money to go around, and it’s very easy to get lost in the shuffle, and outreach is vital to keep their businesses afloat.

• • •

William fires away with

“Do those Dover reprints of comics from the 80s and 90s move at all for you?”

To be honest, I’ve not carried a lot of them, since I’m still a small-ish shop with a limited budget, and sometimes I have to pick and choose between something that’s new and something that’s reprinting an obscurish item from decades ago. Not that I don’t order archival projects, I do get plenty, but I’m not quite at the point where I can carry as much as I’d like. I did make sure to get The Bozz Chronicles, for example, and I talked about their edition of Puma Bluespreviously. And yes, the ones I’ve ordered do move for me, and I always keep an eye on their section in the ol’ Previews for any more goodies I’d want to carry. I can’t carry everything, but I at least try to carry some things.

• • •

Dan duns

“So, are there any good comic books?”

No.

…

…Well, okay, maybe there are a couple. I like the 1950s Popeye comic book reprints IDW is putting out. Daredevil is still really good, what with an actual lawyer writing it an’ all. Justice League 3001 is Giffen/DeMatteis redoing their League from a couple of decades back as a futuristic sci-fi superbook, and it’s pretty great and nearly unpredictable. Scooby-Doo Team-Up is a hoot. Love and Rockets continues to be good readin’. The Hellboy family of comics are solid, and the Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. series is a welcome and accessible addition to the franchise. I like all the Star Wars comics. There’s Saga, and there’s Bitch Planet, and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and Kaijumax, and Heartthrob, and of course, Dark Knight III. There’s plenty of good stuff out there…just look around!